/jp/ - Otaku Culture

>>19761909
I believe that it is related to the fact that Alice is a bit like the Hermes of Gensokyo, who moves across the boundary of the mortal and the divine. This is not to be confused with moving across the Hakurei barrier, which is something else and which seems to have a geographic dimension. It seems that Alice however, being human-turned-supernatural has discovered a loophole.

Has ZUN (of *Team* Shanghai Alice) really invented the Touhou characters out of thin air, or are they the ones telling him what to write and draw and code (and drink?) to make themselves more and more real, not just in his games but in the countless derivative works they inspire? In his swirling imagination, (day)dreams, prayers? If so, Alice has spoken to him rather a lot, she is after all a "special character" and she, like ZUN, is a doll-maker bringing her creations to life. They are both two paragons of production-désirante that have built a hyperstitional bridge between their world and ours, over which the residents of Gensokyo are on their way here, in their droves, to help themselves to the abundance of reality that we've let slip away.

All this is to say, it feels as though that Alice is closest to ZUN and therefore closest to all of us, and Alice fans can feel her warm presence more than any of the others. It is as if you could just, with the slightest effort of imagination, feel her embrace.

And if she and her fellow 2hus feel increasingly real with each passing day then I believe it is Alice who is largely (though not exclusively) responsible.

That and because she's just so cute!